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Yamato was built at Kure, Japan.[1] She entered service on 16 December 1941.[2] It was one of five planned super battleships although only two were built: Yamato and Musashi.[3] The allies had no clue Japan had built these monsters until they were first spotted.

Yamato was huge and displaced 62, 315 tons.[3] Yamato had nine 18-inch guns which were the largest in the world at the time. She was 263 metres (863 ft) long.[4] Yamato's armor was 460 millimetres (18 in) thick.[4] Her guns were her most feared weapons. They fired shells that weighed 3,200 pounds each (the size of a compact car!).[4] They had a range of 44 kilometres (27 mi).[4] Yamato was designed to fight and destroyUS battleships. But it never faced one in battle.[2]

In the 1920s and 1930s the battleship was the ultimate power in naval warfare. But the Japanese, by their attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 proved aircraft carriers were now the most powerful weapon. This meant battleships were already out of date. When the war started, Yamato was the flagship of the Combined Fleet commanderIsoroku Yamamoto.[1] It spent much of 1942 defending Japanese shipping out of Truk. Torpedoed by a USsubmarine in 1943 it was under repair until 1944.[1] Because attack from the air was now the main threat, Yamato was fitted with additional anti-aircraft guns.[5] In June 1944 Yamato took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. In October Yamato was in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. During the battle she fired her guns at US escort carriers thinking they were full sized carriers.[1] She was attacked by several US destroyers and received some damage.[1] Returning to Japan in November she was again fitted with more anti-aircraft guns. By then Japan no longer had the resources to keep Yamato operating. In 1945, Yamato left for Okinawa as part of the suicidalOperation Ten-Go.[1] It was an effort to attack US ships supporting the Battle of Okinawa. But, off the coast of Kagoshima, it was sunk by U.S. aircraft on 7 April.[3]

After the war, the Yamato became a fascinating subject in Japan and elsewhere.[1] In 1985 her wreckage was located under 340 metres (1,120 ft) of water.[6] It lies on the seabed broken into two sections.[6] The name Yamato lives on in the anime series Space Battleship Yamato.